Faith should be no barrier to schools teaching respect for LGBT rights

Faith should be no barrier to schools teaching respect for LGBT rights

By Masuma Rahim

Some parents may not be happy about it, but
programmes like No Outsiders are important and should
be expanded
Recently we've seen several clashes between local
communities and education leaders over the
application of the Equality Act in Britain's schools.
Shraga Stern, the Orthodox Jewish activist, warned
earlier this year that Haredi Jews would "leave the
UK" if faiths schools were forced to teach children
about same-sex relationships and gender reassignment.
And last month, the head-teacher of a school in
Birmingham was petitioned by mainly Muslim parents to
do away with a pilot programme called No Outsiders,
which is centred around inclusion and diversity as
part of sex and relationship education. Although the
programme addresses issues as broad as gender, race,
ageism, faith and disability, the spotlight has,
inevitably, fallen on the teaching of LGBT
identities.
On one hand we have those who argue that schools have
a duty to address issues related to difference,
inclusion and social integration. On the other, there
are those who are adamant that schools' only role is
to teach children the core academic curriculum, and
that it is absolutely not their responsibility to
address the wider question of how you live in a
pluralistic society. More often than not, it feels
like a stalemate.
Of course, one of the primary purposes of education
is to give young people a solid grounding in academic
subjects, but the reality is that most schools are
multi-ethnic and multi-faith. Some pupils have
disabilities. Some will identify as lesbian, gay,
bisexual or trans. Children will naturally have
questions about these differences, but it is
dangerous to assume that they will all be able to ask
these questions of their parents, or that they will
necessarily be able to have open, nuanced debates
with them.
Plenty of adults hold views that are disparaging;
plenty of people are more than happy to discriminate
against others based upon some aspect of their
identity. Women, older people and those with
disabilities are still more likely to face prejudice
than their counterparts. How can you reliably assume
that all parents will be able to have these
conversations with their children in ways that foster
openness and an appreciation of the benefits of
diversity? And if they can't speak about these issues
of difference in a respectful manner, surely it will
be correspondingly harder to talk respectfully about
LGBT people when we know that feelings - and
religious teachings - have made the debate so
polarised.
The No Outsiders programme was designed to address
these topics with a view to increasing understanding
and inclusivity. It's a great shame that it has been
attacked in this way.
But there's a difference between teaching children
how to think and teaching them what to think, and
perhaps that's where the difficulty lies. It's not
the role of schools to become mouthpieces for the
government, because governments have agendas that are
often questionable. I would not, for example, agree
with the Prevent strategy being implemented in ways
that actively encouraged the marginalisation of
pupils with certain demographics. Nor would I wish
schools to teach students that their views on race
and immigration should be in line with current UK
policy.
Schools do, however, have a responsibility to teach
children how to live in a society that is made up of
people who will have some similarities to them, as
well as those who will have differences. They need to
foster in their students a willingness to live
alongside their fellow citizens, but there needs to
be a frank and pragmatic acknowledgement that some
people will struggle to accept those who identify as
LGBT - and not just for reasons of faith.
You cannot expect all people to accept the full
spectrum of gender and sexual diversity, because that
isn't realistic. You can - and should - expect them
to treat LGBT people, and disabled people and ethnic
minorities as equal citizens; to protect their
rights, and to actively fight discrimination against
them. The No Outsiders programme seems designed to do
just that. On the basis of that, if nothing else, its
continuation - and expansion - would, surely, be a
good outcome for everyone.